The Firekeeper
Emperor Crux Alexandron was the last Messiah to champion the Golden Age, and the only one who heard Scream that tore apart the Empire of Humanity. Coronated in 2615 following the end of the Mother of Mercy’s reign, the newly-named Firekeeper ruled until his death in 2682. Acheron Rho would not see another Emperox for centuries. Origins Alexandron was born the eldest son of the Empress Crux Helena and her husband Taxarch Eridanus Eridanus Ricardo in 2531. From the moment of his birth, he was groomed by his mother and her Court to inherit the throne. Years and years of ceaseless childhood lessons on history, culture, politics, courtly behavior, Lyric, military history, mathematics, and science wore on the boy, who developed a mile-wide rebellious streak that lasted late into his young adulthood. During this time, he developed a close personal attachment to his younger siblings Morthiel, Asurien, and Seria. The four were practically inseparable during this time, and outside the purview of their permanently-busy parents proved a constant nuisance to the staff of the Imperial Palace. But this time of idyllic rebellious adolescence could not last forever. As he grew older, Alexandron grew to understand the importance of his duty. He had to be the very best if he was to assume his mother’s throne. His siblings came to realize this too. His youngest sister, Seria, was only saddened by the distance that grew between them. His brother, Morthiel, thanked the Almighty that Alexandron had been chosen for this destiny instead of him. But his sister Asurien, always the overlooked middle child, only grew more bitter, hateful, and jealous. In 2615, the reign of the Mother of Mercy came to an end. It was time for a new Emperox to ascend to the throne. The Election Little information has survived about the candidates of the fifth Emperox election. There are many theories based on highly subjective material, but it is generally agreed that the other candidates’ campaigns were initially strong enough that simply being the son of the Empress would not be enough to carry Alexandron to the throne. Just a year before the Imperial Election, Alexandron showed the sector that he had matured beyond what was expected of him. Records that have been meticulously pieced together describe favourable reactions to a set of laws drafted and proposed by Alexandron. He traveled the sector, gathering the input of every Noble House and refining these laws to a standard that was previously considered unattainable. It has been suggested that these laws concerned the Chain of Being, though this has not been confirmed. This display of genuine consideration for his peers and dedication to perfecting the law, coupled with his holy heritage and promise of keeping the fire of the Golden Age alight for another century made his candidacy an exceptionally strong one. After a century of Mercy, the people of Acheron Rho clamoured for more. They wanted the momentum of the Golden Age to continue on forever, and ultimately chose Alexandron as the vessel of this ambition. The Reign of Emperor Crux Alexandron, the Firekeeper The Knights of Mercy, once led by his mother, were militarized by the Firekeeper, becoming a formidable division within the Crucian House Guard. During Alexandron's reign, however they were a more universal entity, given extensive training from House Aquila and cutting-edge fleets built by Fornax hands. The Firekeeper himself was the Strategos of the House Guard and the Knights of Mercy, never shying away from leading them from the fore and almost always seen in their distinctive armour, even in his regular duties. Love and politics are considered to be a dangerous but inevitable combination. Such was the case with the Emperor, who found himself drawn to Meret Lyra Elane Primrose, the masterful sculptor who chiseled the famed Kopf der Flamme in his image. One unexpectedly fervorous modelling session led to a series of intimate moments stolen at every given opportunity. Eventually, in a dramatic revelation in front of the entire court of the Emperor, the Imperial Spymaster presented evidence of deception on the part of Meret Primrose. Amidst theatrical gasps and calls for judgement from the crowd, the Meret turned to the stoic Firekeeper and confessed at length that she arrived as a spy for House Lyra but did not expect to truly fall in love. Confident that their bond was genuine, the Firekeeper deemed her deception worthy of minimal punishment, at the end of which she would be met with an offer of marriage. For twenty years the Firekeeper’s mother, and former Empress of Humanity, stood by his side as his most trusted advisor. A century’s worth of wisdom and practical experience was at his beck and call, though he was careful not to become too reliant, as they both knew he would have to chart his own path eventually. And so when the Mother of Mercy departed to the After, the Firekeeper grieved, but did not feel unprepared. Shortly after her passing, the burgeoning Court of Elysium was given additional resources and direction from the Emperor, who saw the Court as an exemplar of his mother’s ideals. Without their mother to keep the peace however, the Firekeeper and his sister Asurien feuded. What started as jealousy turned to hate, then devolved into bloodshed. Asurien waged war against her brother, her Emperor, and the Empire stood ready to fight for him. But the Firekeeper saw no justice in sending others to die in the name of something so petty and personal as a family feud. Only Seria and a small team of the most stubbornly loyal warriors from several different Noble Houses were permitted to stay by the Firekeeper’s side as he faced his sister and her Crux insurgents. This conflict is legendary, culminating in an epic battle amidst the Hammerberg Mountains. When the day was finally won, the blood of both Seria and Asurien stained the snow. It is believed that Seria gave her life to block a lethal blow aimed at her brother, and in a vengeful rage the Firekeeper struck down the traitor. In the years that followed, the Empire knew only peace and opulence under the firm rule of the Firekeeper. And then, halfway through his reign, the dream ended. The Scream and the Silence In one fell swoop, the backbone of the Empire collapsed. The jump gates were destroyed, the Noble Houses separated. The Golden Age died but the Emperor survived, separated from his home, his wife and his children. The Firekeeper knew that he could not truly rest until some semblance of order was returned to the chaos of the sector. Despite the now-limited reach of his voice, he was still the avatar of God. He was still the Messiah. Fueled by the despair of trillions, the Firekeeper sought to reunite the Empire by any means necessary. While House Fornax was ruthlessly pushed to recreate the Spike Drive, other methods of reunification - that people today may find ludicrous and laughable - were proposed to the Emperor. Telepaths attempted dangerous psychic rituals to touch the minds of those on distant worlds. Scientists devised unstable technologies to replicate the effects of the jump gates on a smaller scale. Desperate or deluded pilots were sent out in droves to find a way to cheat the rules of space travel. None of these methods succeeded. All of them proved excessively costly in both resources and human lives, including that of the Emperor’s last sibling, Morthiel. Dissent was the natural response, historians claim. Havoc was widespread on Imperial Prime as faith waned and ration allocation from the Cygnus biofarms grew tighter, just barely kept from spilling over the edge into complete anarchy. All of this weighed heavily on the Emperor, who spent more and more time in the Cathedral adjoining his palace, fasting and praying for answers from God. The relationship between the Emperor and House Fornax became strained under the pressure of the apocalyptic situation, but salvation would eventually come in the form of the reinvented Spike Drive. The cost of progress was still high, but there was indeed progress. Year after year they would get closer and closer to a successful spike drill until finally a Fornax pilot safely emerges in the Perithr system, reestablishing contact with the navigators of House Vela. When word reached the Firekeeper about this breakthrough, historical records show that he simply nodded his head, smiled and said, “Gott mit-mas”. Later, in the presence of none but his trusted Reticulum Kheshig—the identity of whom has been lost—he would allow himself to shed tears. Ashes to Ashes In 2682, Emperor Crux Alexandron returned to Hiera. Having been cut off from life-extension technology during the Silence, his 151 years showed as he was half-carried off the landing shuttle. He demanded to be brought to the Flame atop the Oberlandesgericht, the Flame that his mother had lit at the beginning of her reign. Though the sector was only a decade into its rediscovery period, the Firekeeper had faith in his subjects’ capability to fulfill the mandate he had given them. Seeing his time as Emperox of Humanity as being complete, his duty as the Messiah finished, he shed his sacred armour and immersed himself in the Flame. Naught but ashes were left behind. Several years later the homeworld of House Lyra and last known location of the Emperor’s family, Orpheus, would be rediscovered. The Firekeeper’s wife and daughter were psychics, and so they perished in the Scream. His only son, Prince Crux Luca, remained. From him the line of Preeminent Families, claiming lineage close and far back to the Firekeeper's line, would continue for centuries to come. Unofficial Histories A Tyrannical Titan Believers of this unsubstantiated theory tend to also support the Mother of Madness theory, claiming that, “The Mother of Madness bore a Son of Sin, a Tyrannical Titan.” The allegations this theory espouses are almost comical in nature. They claim that the Firekeeper was not a valorous leader, but instead a supreme overlord of malice who ruled without regard for the concerns of his subjects, and that history has forgotten the countless rebellions and uprisings he ruthlessly invited and subsequently quashed. There is a strange pride that some of the more zealous advocates of this theory possess, stemming from a belief that the Blood Eagle was a pale shadow of the Tyrannical Titan, a failed attempt at emulating the boundless glory and power manifested by her predecessor. Penance via Flame To punish his oldest sister Asurien for her treachery, he did not lop off her head. Instead, he chose to offer her to the Flame. Savouring her screams and the ‘purity’ that came from immolation, the Firekeeper rolled out this punishment to all perpetrators of treason. For those who committed crimes of a lesser severity, burn scars of varying intensity were administered. The Firekeeper himself was not exempt from this penance, in fact this theory claims that near the end of his reign the weary Alexandron was little more than a walking mass of charred flesh. It is said that if the Scream had not come, this brutal practice would be commonplace today. This unofficial history is perhaps the most entertained in the modern Empire. Fictional retellings of the Firekeeper’s story often include it, despite initial controversy. Feeble in the Face of Apocalypse Supporters of this heretical theory hypothesize that the moment the Scream came, every shred of conviction and fortitude held by the Firekeeper evaporated immediately. The Emperor became akin to a wailing child, utterly terrified by the world he found himself in and unable to make a single sound decision. The advisors and ambassadors from other Noble Houses that were stranded on Imperial Prime each attempted to influence the infirm Emperor to pursue their own agendas. Some were selfish, others wanted nothing more than to help save the Empire. Infighting quickly became rampant between the Emperor’s manipulators. After several years without meaningful progress, many of these manipulators plotted to remove the Firekeeper entirely, and to declare themselves the new Emperox of Humanity. While Imperial Prime was a den of political vipers, Maja was a hotbed for real solutions. The reinvention of the Spike Drive by House Fornax stopped these plots in their tracks, with focus turning to the rediscovery of the sector. The majority of heretics who support this theory (of which there are allegedly few to begin which) believe that at this point, the Firekeeper started to regain confidence and become at least a fraction of the leader he once was. The rest, however, believe that one of the manipulators actually succeeded in their plot to become Emperox, using their new position as Messiah to rewrite history and effectively replace the real Firekeeper. Category:Characters Category:NPCs Category:House Crux Members Category:House Crux Category:Emperox